Current Sponsored Research Projects

Crops, Cellphones and T-Cells: Technology Change for Livelihood Security in Sub-Saharan Africa 

Effective dates: 20064-2008
Funding Source: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Region or Country (ies): Sub-Saharan Africa
Principal Investigators: Laura L. Murphy, PhD (lmurphy2@tulane.edu) and Paul Harvey (ODI, London)

HIV/AIDS, especially prime-age mortality, intersects with poverty and livelihood insecurity to undermine the prospects for human development in much of rural Africa. Meanwhile, communities respond on their own with technologies ranging from software (new social institutions) to hardware (lighter ploughs). How are African communities affected by HIV and AIDS responding through the adoption, adaptation, innovation of technologies?  How does the policy framework of governmental and non-governmental actors facilitate or hinder innovation? These questions are addressed through an inventory of actual technology changes in Africa, and three original case studies of communities. One Kenyan site is located in Suba District, south Nyanza, where HIV rates are among the highest in Kenya. The area is reliant on animal traction, a technology recognized to have potential to mitigate AIDS in rural areas, and examines whether the Rumstead Lightweight Plough is diffusing.  In Bungoma district, smaller farms and higher population offer potential for intensive gardens, using indigenous greens and herbal plants to mitigate AIDS. The Malawi study focused on the potential for local manufacture of nutritional supplements for HIV/AIDS affected. Please email Dr. Murphy for copies of journal articles, manuscripts, reports, and other materials which have been produced on this project.